For Good
by FinchelFan728
Summary: After winning Nationals and the graduation of the Class of 2012, the New Directions decide to take a vacation together. But a tragic event occurs on the way there, and everyone's life is forever changed. WARNING: Death of two major characters. Finchel, Klaine, Quick, Brittana, Samcedes, Tike, Jarley, Kartie.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi everyone. The Cory episode last night was very well done, and of course very sad. If we must say goodbye to Finn, this is a good way to do it. I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch Glee from now on, I miss Finn so much._

_I'm too upset right now to write more of my current stories, but I promise I'll get back to them in a few days. In the meantime, this is a story that I wrote a while back but then thought it was too upsetting to post online. I thought now might be a fitting time to share it. I did update it so the new characters are part of the story as well. Just as a warning, this story does deal with the deaths of two major characters. I divided it into four parts, as posting all of it at once might be too much for everyone right now. It also might be too upsetting for everyone to read a story like this right now, so I completely understand if it's too hard. I hope everyone's doing okay._

"Finally, we get to move into the back seat and cuddle!" Finn whispered to Rachel as they pulled to the rest stop. The school year was over, Nationals had been won, the Class of 2012 had graduated and to kick off the summer, the New Directions had pooled their money to rent a beach house in North Carolina and spend a week there together.

"It's about time!" Rachel whispered back. The twenty members of New Directions had split themselves between two passenger vans, and they'd divided up the driving. Everyone had to drive at least an hour, and Finn and Rachel had taken the early driving shifts in their van so they could cuddle together in the back seat on the twelve hour drive.

Finn smiled as he kissed his fiancee's head. This had really been the best year of his life. Winning Nationals had been the best feeling ever, except for when Rachel agreed to marry him. Not getting into Pace had been a blow, but after some talking, he and Rachel had decided they'd go to New York anyway. Finn had sent in some applications to state universities and had applied for some part time jobs, and Rachel of course would be shining at NYADA. Kurt would be coming to New York with them as well, he'd applied to a few fashion schools. Finn and Rachel had decided to push their wedding back to Christmas break, so they could have time to get ready for New York and get adjusted there.

"Have fun driving!" Rachel giggled at Puck and Quinn, who were taking the next driving shift in their van.

"Oh, sure we will," Quinn said. "We just got back together, and now we have to drive."

"Hey, it's not bad!" Finn said as he put his seatbelt on. In front of them, Kurt and Blaine had fallen asleep on each other's shoulders, and Santana and Brittany were sharing earphones behind Kurt and Blaine. Behind Santana and Brittany were Jake and Marley, with Marley asleep on Jake's lap. Finn and Rachel were in the very back of the van.

"We still have about eight hours to go," Rachel sighed. She'd never been a very good traveler and got motion sickness.

Finn reached into his pocket and handed Rachel a stick of gum. "Maybe this'll help." Rachel smiled and gave her fiance a kiss.

"I hate to break up the PDA, but could you two maybe text someone in the other van and see how they're doing?" Puck called from the driver's seat.

"Sure," Finn said as he got out his phone and sent a text to Ryder. He hadn't seen the van that Sam, Mercedes, Mike, Tina, Artie, Ryder, Kitty, Rory, Sugar and Joe were riding down in since they'd left the car dealership.

Rachel looked at Finn. "Finn, that truck's going really fast." Finn looked at Rachel, telling she was nervous.

"Rach, it's fine." But then he looked at the truck that was approaching their van, as he himself began to feel nervous by how fast it was going.

"Puck, try to switch lanes!" Finn called up to the front as he grabbed Rachel. She put her arms around him as well, and everything went black.

x

"I just got a text from Finn, they're in Pennsylvania too, so maybe we'll see their van soon," Ryder told Sam, who was driving.

"Okay, that's good to know," Sam said. They noticed that the traffic was slowing down, and that a lot of ambulances were going down the street.

"I wonder what happened?" Rory asked.

"I don't know," Tina said. "Maybe there was an accident of some sort."

"Ryder, you should send Finn another text to see if they know anything," Mike suggested. Ryder got out his phone and sent another text. But nearly half an hour went by, traffic was moving slowly, and Finn didn't reply to the text.

x

"Okay, I'd say this one's about seventeen, he's probably about 140 or something," a voice said.

Blaine opened his eyes and saw paramedics standing above him. His ribcage was very sore, he was sure at least two ribs were broken. He looked around, not seeing anyone else in sight.

"What happened?" Blaine managed to ask.

"Thank God you're conscious," one of the paramedics said. "There was an accident, a truck hit the van you were riding in."

"Where's everyone else?" Blaine said, immediately starting to panic. Was Kurt okay? Was Finn? Was Rachel? Was anyone?

"Son, just focus on yourself now," the paramedic said. "Focus on your breathing. We're going to get you to a hospital."

"But what about my friends?" Blaine shouted.

"A lot of emergency staff came," the paramedic said. "We're evaluating everyone at the scene as much as we can. For now, we need to get you to a hospital."

Blaine didn't have the strength to argue, but he had a feeling nobody was okay.

x

"Finn still hasn't texted?" Sam asked Ryder. The site of what must have been an accident was now in sight. The road was blocked off in that lane, and emergency vehicles surrounded the area.

"No," Ryder said.

"Maybe his phone's not getting a signal or something," Sam said, trying to hold his worries in. There were so many emergency vehicles here that whatever this accident was, a lot of people had to have been involved. Finally, the van approached the site of the accident and Sam's heart skipped a beat when he saw that the van that looked almost completely crushed looked exactly like theirs.

Tina spoke first."Oh my God."

"It was them!" Mercedes managed to say. "Sam, pull aside, we have to check on them."

Everyone knew then and there that something must be horribly, horribly wrong. Sam pulled the van off to the side of the road, and everyone got out to walk over.

A police officer saw the youth. "That's not safe, you're putting your lives in danger! Two people are already dead!" The whole group stopped in their tracks. Two of their friends were dead?

"Those were our friends in there," Artie managed to say.

Everyone was avoiding the question - who was dead?

The police officer looked sorry for what he just said. "Oh my God. If I knew... this probably wasn't the right way for you to find out..."

The group stood there in silence. At least two of their friends had died, more might die later.

"We got everyone's phone and contacted their emergency contacts," one of the police officers told the group. "If you guys want, we'll get you to the hospital where we're taking them." No one in the group knew what to say. All they knew was that two of their friends were dead.

x

A few hours later, the members of New Directions who hadn't been in the van that had been hit sat in the waiting room of a Pennsylvania emergency room. The parents of those in that van had arrived, as had Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury. Nobody had heard anything yet about anyone's condition. All anyone knew was that nothing looked good. Each set of parents had gone to see their respective children.

"We shouldn't have decided to go on this trip," Mike said after a little bit of quiet.

"Guys, you didn't know this would happen," Mr. Schue said.

On the TV in the waiting room, a news report broke about the accident on the freeway, showing coverage from that morning.

x

"Carole, he's waking up!" Kurt heard a familiar voice say. He looked up and saw his dad and Carole.

"Dad?" Kurt whispered.

"Oh, Kurt," Burt said, starting to cry.

"Dad, what happened?" Kurt asked.

"Do you remember this morning?" Burt asked softly. Kurt tried to remember what had happened. Then he remembered. Finn and Rachel had said something about a fast truck approaching their van. They'd heard a big crash, but nothing after that.

"Yeah," Kurt said. "My neck hurts."

"You'll be okay," Carole said. "Nearly everyone's hurt in some way." She looked like she'd been crying a lot earlier.

"Is Blaine okay?" Kurt asked.

"Blaine has a few broken ribs," Carole said softly.

"What about Finn?" Kurt asked. "What about Rachel?"

x

"We're going to have to tell them at some point," Emma said to Will as they waited in the waiting room. The kids didn't know the status of everyone's condition, but Will and Emma had been told. They knew who made it and who hadn't. And it was better for the kids to find out now rather than see something on the news or online. Since everyone else's parents were here, the injured would be hearing the news from their parents.

"Tell us who it was?" Kitty asked, looking more vulnerable than anyone had ever seen her. "Who were they?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay, sorry it took me a while to get around to posting the second part of this story. I guess I wanted to focus on the stories I'm currently writing, but the third part should be up soon! Again, just a warning, this is another very sad chapter, and if it's too upsetting to read, I completely understand. I think that with Cory's death, I wanted to share how I would have dealt with the death of a beloved character (well, two beloved characters in this case). Various Glee club members' points of view will be explored, but probably Kurt's the most, because he was closest to the two victims. Again, please know how hard it was for me to write this when I wrote it over a year ago! I love both characters who passed away with all my heart. If you want to read the last two parts of the story, don't forget to review and let me know if I did a good job._

"We're so sorry," the doctor told Kurt, Burt, Carole, Hiram and LeRoy. "There was nothing we could have done. By the time the ambulance arrived, they were both already dead. The truck hit the part of the car they were in really hard. Even if they had survived, their bodies would have been permanently damaged..."

Kurt couldn't listen to what the doctor was saying. He just looked at Finn and Rachel's bodies on the hospital bed. It didn't look like his brother and his best friend. They had bruises, scrapes, cuts.

"We tried to get them as presentable as we could before we let you guys see them," the doctor said.

"Well, they look horrible," Kurt snapped. He couldn't help himself. "And I don't care if their bodies would have been damaged if they survived. I would have done whatever I could to help them deal with the damage if it meant I would have gotten more time with them."

"We're very sorry, Kurt," the doctor said. "It's hard to lose your brother or your best friend, let alone both at such a young age."

"The three of us were going to go to New York together in the fall..." Kurt said. His broken neck was hurting and his neck brace made him uncomfortable, but he didn't care. He just wanted Finn and Rachel back.

"I'll give you guys some time alone with them," the doctor said before stepping out of the room. "Mr. and Mr. Berry, I contacted your daughter's mother. It's up to you if you want to let her see Rachel."

"She does deserve to see her daughter," Hiram said.

"Finn's with his dad," Carole said softly. "I'm sure he's taking care of both of them."

Kurt was barely listening to what his parents and Rachel's dads were saying. His mind just kept flashing back to when his dad told him that the crash had killed Finn and Rachel. Everyone else in the van was injured, but in stable condition. He wondered if anyone else knew. Did the other people who'd been in the van with them know? Surely the people in the other van had to know...

x

"This isn't fair," Artie said as the rest of the group sat in the waiting room. Everyone was still processing the information that Finn and Rachel were dead.

"This trip was their idea," Tina said.

"They were our leaders," Mike added.

"I know this is hard, everyone," Mr. Schue said. "I loved Finn and Rachel so much."

"We all did," Mercedes said.

"If it wasn't for them, Glee wouldn't have lasted as long as it did," Sam said. "They're the reason we won Nationals..."

A doctor came in. "You're the New Directions?"

"Yeah," Will said. "How are the survivors doing?"

"Jake Puckerman and Marley Rose are both paralyzed, we're pretty sure," the doctor said. "Kurt Hummel has a broken neck and had a concussion earlier. Blaine Anderson has a few broken ribs. Santana Lopez, Brittany Pierce, Noah Puckerman and Quinn Fabray all have a few broken bones, but should be okay soon. Their parents all said you can visit if you want."

"Do they know about Rachel and Finn?" Rory asked.

"Their parents told them," the doctor said. "They're as devastated as you all seem to be."

x

"You want to see Kurt?" Blaine's mom asked.

"Yeah, I do," Blaine said.

"I just got a text from Burt saying that they went back to Kurt's hospital room," Blaine's dad said. "Kurt would really like to see you."

"I'd like to see him, too," Blaine said. The truth was, he had no idea how to act with Kurt. Kurt had lost his brother and his best friend. He was upset, but it was nothing compared to what Kurt was feeling. What if he said or did the wrong thing?

Blaine's dad helped him into his wheelchair and wheeled him down the hall to Kurt's room, where Burt and Carole were sitting. "Burt, Carole, Kurt, we're very sorry for your loss," Mrs. Anderson said.

"Thank you so much," Carole said, taking a tissue.

Blaine looked at Kurt in the hospital bed. "Hey." He didn't know what else to say.

"Thank goodness you're alive," Kurt said weakly. "I couldn't have lost you, too."

"Would you two like some time alone?" Burt asked.

"Yes please," Kurt said as their parents left the room. All Blaine wanted to do now was hug his boyfriend, but he couldn't do that because he was in his wheelchair. Instead, he reached out and took Kurt's hand.

"I felt like I was dead inside when my dad told me about Finn and Rachel," Kurt said.

"It's so wrong," Blaine said. "Why them?"

"The four of us were supposed to go to New York together," Kurt said. "Well, you would join us in a year, but still. It was going to be the four of us in New York together."

"It was," Blaine said.

"Rachel really believed in me and encouraged me," Kurt said softly. "And Finn was my first real friend. He held my jacket when Puck threw me into the dumpster."

"Really?" Blaine asked. He didn't know that about Finn.

"Yeah," Kurt said, starting to cry. "And another time when we did Lady Gaga week in Glee club, some of the football players were picking on me, and Finn came in dressed in a shower curtain, telling them to leave me alone."

"I do remember Finn liked your prom outfit, even though your dad and I were worried," Blaine said.

"They looked horrible, Blaine," Kurt said. "They just didn't look like Finn and Rachel. They didn't even look like dead versions of Finn and Rachel."

Blaine felt so bad that Kurt had to see that. "Do you think your parents will have a viewing for them?" Then he regretted asking that.

Kurt didn't seem too upset by that question. "We were thinking of having a combined funeral for them, of course. But I don't want other people to have to see them like that. Either they get cleaned up real good or we have it closed casket. This isn't how I want people to remember Finn and Rachel."

Kurt had a point. Finn and Rachel had been amazing people, but they would now be known as the McKinley alumni who got killed by a truck. Not as the great leaders or the great friends they were. Not as the leads at the National Show Choir championships. Such an unusual death would now likely define them.

x

"A fun vacation planned by a group of students and alumni from McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio turned out to be anything but," one of the anchors said on television. Hiram, LeRoy, Burt, Carole, Kurt, Blaine and Blaine's parents were watching the evening news in Kurt's hospital room.

The other anchor nodded. "Members of the nationally victorious New Directions show choir were on their way to North Carolina for a celebratory vacation to begin their summer when tragedy struck."

The highway where the crash had occurred appeared on the screen. "On Route 219, a truck collided with a van the students had rented and were driving to North Carolina in, killing two students and injuring eight others." When a photo of the smashed back of the van appeared, Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand.

"The deceased passengers, Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry, were both eighteen years old, had just graduated from McKinley and were engaged," the anchor continued as Finn and Rachel's school photos appeared on the screen. Kurt would never see those smiles in person again.

"Ashley Jones is in Lima at McKinley High, where a memorial for Finn and Rachel is being set up outside the school," the second anchor said. "Ashley, can you tell us about the atmosphere in Lima?"

The scene changed to the courtyard of McKinley, where the reporter was standing in front of a small memorial of flowers, candles and other small memorabilia. "Well, it's a very sad, somber scene here," the reporter said. The camera zoomed in on a football and set of drumsticks that were next to a microphone with a gold star on it. Kurt felt the tears coming back. "It's clear that Finn and Rachel were beloved students here at McKinley. Their deaths come as a shock, and the students and faculty we spoke to spoke so highly of them."

"Beloved?" LeRoy asked. "Then why did they get slushied all the time?"

"Now isn't the time for this," Hiram said to his husband.

Coach Beiste was shown on the screen. "I had Finn as the quarterback of the football team for the past two years, and they just don't make them like him." A photo of Finn in his football uniform was shown before going back to Coach Beiste. "He was a great athlete, great leader, great singer, great student, just a really kind person. And Rachel was an amazing person, too. When we didn't have enough players for a big game, she offered to step in and play with us. They both would have done great things."

Now the camera panned in on Coach Sylvester, and Kurt hoped she wouldn't make any snide remarks about Finn or Rachel. "I helped the Glee club on their way to Nationals," Coach Sylvester said. "I must say, while the Glee club and I had our ups and downs, I definitely admired those two and their dedication to the club and how kind they were to their teammates. They both really made an effort to be friends with everyone else on the team."

A girl in a McKinley Swimming hoodie who Kurt had seen around the school came on camera. According the the caption the TV put under her, her name was Katy Wilkinson, and she'd graduated with them. Now that Kurt thought about it, he may have had a class or two with her. "I had Finn and Rachel in some of my classes, and I wish I'd gotten to know them better," Katy said. "I'd talked with both of them now and then, and they were really nice people. I saw them perform with the Glee club and they were really talented. They were also one of those couples I thought would last forever."

The camera showed a boy lie a set of drumsticks at the memorial, and then he turned to the camera. He had on a McKinley letterman jacket. "I was on the baseball team with Finn and we had some good times together," the boy said. His name was Garrett Galvin, according to the caption, and he was in the year below Finn, Rachel and Kurt. "I'm honestly more in shock than anything right now, and of course very sad. Things like this aren't supposed to happen."

"According to a statement from the school, funeral arrangements are upcoming, and the families of Finn and Rachel have asked for privacy," the reporter said. "Back to the studio."

"What a tragic situation," one of the anchors said. "The families of Finn and Rachel are most certainly in our thoughts. We should note that the other students injured in the accident, eighteen-year-old Quinn Fabray, Kurt Hummel, Santana Lopez and Noah Puckerman, seventeen-year-old Blaine Anderson and Brittany Pierce, and fifteen-year-old Jake Puckerman and Marley Rose, are all in serious, but stable condition. Our thoughts are most definitely with them as we wish them a quick recovery and condolences for the loss of their friends, and in Kurt's case, his step brother. We also express our condolences to the students who were in the other van for this location, eighteen-year-old Mike Chang and Mercedes Jones, seventeen-year-old Artie Abrams, Tina Cohen Chang and Sam Evans, sixteen-year-old Rory Flanagan, Joe Hart and Sugar Motta, and fifteen-year-old Ryder Lynn and Kitty Wilde."

"We express our condolences to Rachel's fathers, Hiram and LeRoy Berry, Finn's mother Carole Hudson-Hummel, his father Burt Hummel and his stepbrother Kurt Hummel," the other anchor said. "Please stay tuned for updates on this tragic story."

A clip of Finn and Rachel performing at Nationals was shown before the TV station switched to a commercial. Seeing it on TV made it all so much more real. This was happening. Finn and Rachel really were dead. They really weren't coming back.

Kurt hated this so much.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey guys! Thanks a lot for the nice comments on the last part of the story, I really appreciate them. I have been getting less reviews lately, which makes me sad, so I really appreciate those of you who are still here. There's one part of this story left and a few chapters of my other story, but I do have the first chapter of my new fanfic started :) Let me know what you think of this - I love reviews!_

They were supposed to see Finn in this tux and Rachel in this dress again. But not like this.

It was supposed to be on their wedding day that they'd see them wearing these. Instead, Finn and Rachel were being buried in the clothes they were supposed to wear on the wedding day.

It had been about a week and everyone was out of the hospital and back in Lima. Most people were at least starting to get better physically. Jake and Marley had both fractured their spines and were both likely paralyzed permanently and were both in wheelchairs now. Burt still wanted Kurt to use his wheelchair, but his neck was feeling a little less sore. Blaine was also in a wheelchair with broken ribs. Brittany had broken both her legs and was in a wheelchair as well. Santana had only broken one leg and had moved on to crutches rather than a wheelchair. Puck had a broken shoulder and Quinn had a broken arm.

The families had decided on a semi private viewing before the funeral. Finn and Rachel were both pretty damaged by the crash, and despite all the work that the embalmers had done, they didn't really look like Finn and Rachel. However, the parents of the deceased thought that the friends of Finn and Rachel who'd suffered the trauma from the accident should get to see them one last time. Extended families of Finn and Rachel had also come to the viewing.

"This wasn't supposed to be the day we'd see them in their wedding dress and tux," Tina said as the New Directions stood by the coffins.

"Rachel decided right away that this dress was the one," Santana said. "She was so excited."

"Now I feel bad for how I treated her that day we went dress shopping," Quinn said.

"How's Kurt doing?" Sam whispered to Blaine. Even though everyone was grieving in their own way, everyone was particularly worried about Kurt. It had, after all, been his brother and his best friend.

Blaine looked at Kurt, who had pushed his wheelchair close to Finn's coffin and had both his hands on his brother's. "I'm worried about him. He's always talking about them."

"I do feel guilty," Sam told Blaine. "I mean, you're all injured, they're dead, and those of us who were in the other van are still in fine physical shape."

"I miss them," Blaine said.

"Me too," Sam said. "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be back here."

"And we wouldn't be such good friends," Blaine said. Finn and Rachel had made such a difference in all their lives.

A little further down, Kitty sat on Artie's lap. "You're supposed to be the only one in the wheelchair."

"I know," Artie said. At least two people were now permanently wheelchair bound.

Jake and Marley wheeled over to Artie and Kitty. "You know, if you two need any pointers about your wheelchairs, I can help," Artie said.

"Thanks, dude," Jake said. "It could be a lot worse than this."

"Yeah, I'm just glad I'm alive," Marley said. The four of them looked over at Finn and Rachel in the coffins. Seeing them in the coffins really made it all sink in. Their beloved co-captains really were gone.

x

"Death and grief are really complicated things," Kurt said, thinking out loud. "One thing you hear a lot, something I've heard a lot over the past week, is that death isn't the end, that they'll always be with me in some way, that the love I had for Finn and Rachel is stronger than death. Well guess what? Death is the end. They're not here anymore. They're not coming back. Them being here in spirit is not the same. I don't want them here in spirit. I want them physically here."

"Of course you do," Blaine said. "We all do."

"They were the heart, the soul, the glue of Glee," Sam said.

Burt and Carole came over to where Kurt and Blaine were talking with Sam, Puck, Mike and Artie. "Can we talk to Kurt alone for a little?" Burt asked.

"Of course," Mike said as the boys walked away.

"Look Kurt, if you don't want to, if it's too hard, you don't have to speak at the service," Burt said.

"I want to," Kurt said. He wasn't sure if he wanted to, but he knew that both Finn and Rachel would speak if it was him.

"Okay, if you change your mind, I'm sure everyone would understand," Carole said.

x

A little further away, Quinn, Santana and Brittany were talking. "I feel horrible for how mean we were to her at the beginning," Brittany said.

"We weren't very nice to him either," Santana said.

Quinn was about to say something when she felt someone poke her leg. She turned around and knew right away who this was. "Beth?"

"Hi," Beth said.

Quinn gave Beth a hug with her good arm. She had to admit, Beth was even more beautiful than she'd been when she saw her right before Sectionals. If it hadn't been for Rachel, she could have messed up Beth's life.

Shelby came over to the three girls and Beth. "I told Beth to say hi to you," Shelby said. "How are you girls doing?"

"We're holding up," Santana said.

"I just wish I'd gotten to spend more time with Rachel," Shelby said. "You girls are so lucky you got to know her."

"She was awesome," Brittany said.

Quinn took Beth's hand. "Want to go say hi to d- Puck?"

"I bet she'd like that," Shelby said as she went over to Hiram and LeRoy. Quinn couldn't believe she was seeing Beth again. She doubted Shelby would even let her be in the same room as Beth again. At the same time, she wished it was under different circumstances.

Puck noticed Beth right away when Quinn and Beth came over. "Monkey face."

Beth giggled. "Hi."

"Hi," Puck said, giving Beth a small hug.

After a few minutes with Beth, Shelby came back over to Puck, Quinn and Beth. "Thanks for watching her for a few minutes. I just wanted to see Rachel."

"Of course you do," Quinn said. She couldn't imagine how she would have felt if this had been Beth.

x

After about an hour, the coffins were closed and other people had begun to arrive. Kurt, Blaine, Burt, Carole, Hiram, LeRoy, Shelby and Beth sat in the front row, with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in the rows behind them. Behind their extended families were the members of New Directions. The church was full though, Finn and Rachel had touched a bunch of people. Students from their classes had come, as did most of the members from Finn's sports teams.

"We're gathered here to remember Finnegan Christopher Hudson and Rachel Barbra Berry," the priest said. "Finn was born on May 11, 1994. Rachel was born on December 18, 1993. They both died on June 9, 2012."

They weren't supposed to have a date of death. Not for another fifty years at least. Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand in one and his dad's in the other as the priest continued talking and looked at his dad's other side, where his stepmom was crying. Today solidified why he didn't believe in God. Why would God take Finn and Rachel before their lives even really began?

After the readings, Mr. Schuester went to the podium. "Hello," he said. "I'm Will Schuester. I was the Glee club director of the New Directions, of which Finn and Rachel were captains and the lead singers. I also taught Spanish and history to both Finn and Rachel during their time at McKinley. From the time I started teaching at McKinley, I saw something special in both of them. Finn reminded me of myself when I was young, and Rachel was so talented. Even though I had them in my Spanish class when they were freshmen, I really got to know them their sophomore year when I decided to take over Glee club.

"Rachel was one of the first students to try out for the Glee club and I was immediately impressed by her talent and her passion for singing. She seemed so excited to join. The first time I heard her voice, I thought she was special. She was hoping for the perfect male lead, and I found one when I heard Finn singing in the shower. He had so much talent. It was actually Finn who came up with our Glee club's first successful performance, Journey's Don't Stop Believing..."

Kurt looked at the other members of New Directions in the church. He could tell by the looks on Artie, Tina and Mercedes's faces that they remembered the day Finn had put that together. He also realized that it was because of Finn that so many people had joined Glee. Quinn had joined because she was with Finn at the time, and she'd asked Santana and Brittany to join with her. Puck had joined to get closer to Finn, and Mike and Matt probably wouldn't have joined if Puck hadn't. Finn had recruited Sam, Rory and Ryder to join the club. Rachel had recruited Marley, who'd brought Jake with her.

Mr. Schue finished his speech and it was Kurt's turn to speak. He wheeled to the front of the church and took the microphone from Mr. Schue. "Hi," Kurt managed to say. "I'm Kurt Hummel. I'm Finn's brother and Rachel's best friend..." He tried to remember the words he had in mind, but he just couldn't do this. He didn't want to have to have to say goodbye to his brother and to his best friend. "I just want to thank everyone for coming..." What was he supposed to say? He couldn't remember what he'd prepared. There was so much to say about both Finn and Rachel. "I really don't know what to say today. Seeing so many people here today says a lot about them. It shows how many lives they've touched and how many people loved them. They were talented, but the thing that stood out about them was how they brought people together..." He was afraid to say anything else because he was worried he'd start crying. "So, again, thanks for being here today." He went back to Blaine and his family.

"You didn't have to do it," Blaine whispered to Kurt.

"I wanted to, but I couldn't do it," Kurt whispered back.

"Do you think you can still sing with the Glee club?" Blaine whispered.

"Of course," Kurt said. The Glee club had come up with a song to sing for Finn and Rachel, and they all gathered at the front of the church to sing.

_Girls: I've heard it said,_  
_That people come into our lives,_  
_For a reason._  
_Bringing something we must learn._  
_And we are lead to those,_  
_Who help us most to grow if we let them._  
_And we help them in return._  
_Well I don't know if I believe that's true._  
_But I know I'm who I am today,_  
_Because I knew you._  
_Boys: Like a comet pulled from orbit,_  
_As it passes a sun._  
_Like a stream that meets a boulder,_  
_Halfway through the wood._  
_New Directions: Who can say if I've been changed for the better,_  
_But because I knew you,_  
_I have been changed for good._  
_Girls with boys harmonizing: It well maybe,_  
_That we will never meet again,_  
_In this lifetime._  
_So let me say before we part,_  
_So much of me,_  
_Is made of what I learned from you._  
_You'll be with me,_  
_Like a handprint on my heart._  
_And now whatever way our stories end,_  
_I know you'll have rewritten mine,_  
_By being my friend._  
_New Directions: Like a ship blown from it's mooring,_  
_By a wind off the sea._  
_Like a seed dropped by a sky bird,_  
_In a distant wood._  
_Who can say if I've been changed for the better,_  
_But because I knew you..._  
_Because I knew you..._  
_I have been changed for good._  
_Girls: And just to clear the air,_  
_I ask forgiveness,_  
_For the things I've done,_  
_You blamed me for._  
_Boys: But then I guess we know there's blame to share._  
_And none of it seems to matter,_  
_Anymore._  
_Girls (Boys): Like a comet pulled from orbit_  
_(Like a ship blown from it's mooring,)_  
_As it passes a sun._  
_(By a wind off the sea.)_  
_Like a stream that meets a boulder,_  
_(Like a seed dropped by bird,)_  
_Halfway through the wood._  
_(In the wood.)_  
_New Directions: Who can say if I've been changed for the better._  
_I do believe I have been changed for the better._  
_Boys: And because I knew you..._  
_Girls: Because I knew you..._  
_New Directions: Because I knew you,_  
_I have been changed..._  
_For good._

Finn and Rachel really had changed all of them for good, by both definitions - forever, and for the better.

x

"Now what?" Mercedes asked. It was that evening, and Finn and Rachel had been buried. A luncheon was held at the Hudson-Hummel family's house, and the members of New Directions were hanging out in the living room.

"They really are gone," Ryder said.

"I was looking at the guest book," Puck said. "So many people we haven't seen in a while showed up - Matt Rutherford, Lauren Zizes, Holly Holliday, April Rhodes..."

"They were really important to the Glee club," Rory said.

"It'll be odd, years from now when we have reunions, they won't be there," Sam said.

"Yeah, I would have thought they'd plan our reunions," Kitty said.

"You were so brave to go up there and talk at the funeral," Artie said to Kurt.

"Yeah, I never could have done that," Mike said.

"But I didn't get to say what I had planned," Kurt admitted.

"This is a hard time for all of us," Santana said. "We all miss Finn and Rachel."

"Yeah, but Finn was Kurt's brother," Blaine said. "And Rachel was his best friend."

"They were too young to die," Brittany said.

"They were," Kurt said. He knew that after today, they were expected to return to their regular lives, but their lives would never be what they used to be.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi everyone. I know that this was a sad story. Like I said, when I wrote it over a year ago, I was reluctant to publish it for that same reason. As you can probably tell, dealing with the death of my two favorite characters wasn't an easy thing to do, but after Cory's death, I did want to share how I would have dealt with it. I'm sorry that this isn't a happy Finchel with their kids story, but my other stories are like that :) Like I said, this was a tough one to write, it was even tough to read and update. Hope you think I did a good job the last part of it._

They say that the grieving process takes about a year. For some people it takes a little longer, for some people it takes a little less. There are said to be five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. They say that you get used to the loss, but you never really "get over it."

Years passed, but Finn and Rachel were never forgotten, not by any of the New Directions members. Eventually the casts came off and the bruises and scars faded away. Jake and Marley remained in wheelchairs, but they even got used to that.

The New Directions continued to be a successful group. The year after Finn and Rachel died, they went to Nationals again and placed in the top five. They'd continued to be one of the top teams at Nationals, though their only title was from when Finn and Rachel led them to it.

It had been ten years, and everyone lived all over the place, but everyone was going back to Lima so they could remember Finn and Rachel on the ten year anniversary, together. Everyone was sure that Finn and Rachel would be living in New York with Kurt and Blaine. Now, Blaine and Kurt were the only Glee alumni living there.

With Finn and Rachel gone, they were the first Glee alumni to get married. They got married the year after Blaine graduated from Columbia. Now, Kurt was one of the top fashion designers in New York and Blaine was a doctor. They also had two three year old children. When their surrogate had told them it was twins, one boy and one girl, they both knew right away what names they would give their children.

Puck and Quinn had gotten married about a year after Kurt and Blaine, and Quinn was about six months pregnant. Santana and Brittany had gotten married the next year, as had Mike and Tina. The year after, Sam and Mercedes had their wedding, and so did Artie and Kitty. Last year Jake and Marley had gotten married. Rory and Sugar were getting married later this year. Joe was engaged to Unique, the lead from Vocal Adrenaline in 2012 who transferred to McKinley the year after Finn and Rachel's death. Ryder had just gotten engaged to a girl named Emily who'd joined New Directions that same year.

Their children reminded them so much of their namesakes. As the family rode the plane to New York, Kurt and Blaine watched as their children shared earphones on Blaine's iPod.

"They would have loved them," Kurt said quietly.

"They would have," Blaine agreed. "At times it still feels unreal."

"Yeah," Kurt said. "I wonder what their wedding would have been like, what their kids would have been like, what roles she would have played on Broadway, what he would have ended up doing as a career."

"When's the plane going to land?" Rachael pouted.

"It shouldn't be long," Kurt said. It was the first time Fin and Rachael were going to Lima, the first time they'd been on an airplane. Burt and Carole had moved to New York after Burt retired from the tire shop to be closer to Kurt, and Fin and Rachael were born about a year later. Blaine's parents were now living in Columbus.

"Will you show us your houses from when you were little?" Fin asked.

"Of course we will," Kurt said.

"Yay!" Rachael cheered.

The plane touched down in Toledo, and Kurt and Blaine led their kids off the plane. As they were heading down the gate, they heard a noise. "Blaine! Kurt!"

They turned and saw Sam and Mercedes. "Hey!" Kurt said, hugging Mercedes as Sam high-fived Blaine.

"This must be little Fin and little Rachael," Mercedes said.

"Hi!" Fin said. "I'm Fin."

"Hi Fin, I'm Sam," Sam said.

"My daddies said we'd meet you," Fin said. "I'm named after my uncle."

Kurt looked at his daughter who was clinging to him. "Rachael, can you say hi to Uncle Sam and Aunt Mercedes?"

Rachael shook her head nervously. "She's kind of shy," Blaine explained. "Her brother's always been the more outgoing one."

Sam and Mercedes lived in LA now, where Mercedes was a recording artist and Sam taught at a local middle school. They'd gotten married two years ago.

It would be the first time most of the Glee alumni would be meeting Fin and Rachael. Santana and Brittany lived in New York as well, so they knew them well. They had met Mike and Tina, who now lived in Chicago, nearly a year ago when his dance company came to New York.

x

The next day was the day they'd all been back here for. It was the ten year anniversary of the death's of Finn and Rachel. Kurt and Blaine decided not to take their kids to the cemetery part of the day, but they wanted them to come to the reunion in the Glee classroom so their kids could see the place their fathers spent so much time together.

"Will there be lots of people there?" Rachael asked as they walked into the Glee classroom.

"Yes, but they're all nice, don't worry honey," Blaine said as they knocked on the Glee classroom door. Mr. Schue came out. "Hey, you two."

"Hey Mr. Schue," Kurt said as he and his husband hugged their former Glee director.

Mr. Schue looked at Fin and Rachael. "So these are your little ones. It's so nice to meet you guys. Your daddies have told me all about you."

"This is the room?" Fin asked, looking around.

"Yes it is," Blaine said. He felt a nudge from Kurt as Kurt pointed at the plaque that was installed Blaine, Brittany, Sam, Artie and Tina's senior year with the photo of Finn and Rachel on it.

Rachael and Fin seemed to catch on. They both looked at the plaque. "Is that them?" Rachael asked.

"Yes, that's them," Kurt said as he looked at the photos of Finn and Rachel. It felt like yesterday that he'd seen his brother and his best friend. It had been ten years since he'd seen them alive. "I miss you guys," Kurt said quietly to the pictures.

"She's really pretty," Rachael said.

"She was, wasn't she?" Kurt said to his daughter. "They would have loved you both so, so much."

"They were the best singers in the glee club with us," Blaine said. "And he was a really good drummer, too."

Fin pointed at a drum set. "On those?"

Kurt realized that those were the same drums Finn used. "Yes, on those."

Fin's eyes got big. "Can I try drums?"

"Of course you can," Blaine said, leading his son to the drums and handing him a stick.

"You two seem like great dads," Mr. Schue said to Kurt.

"We try to be," Kurt said. "So, how's Emma? And how are the kids?"

"They're great, Emma's going to stop by today," Mr. Schue said.

The door opened, and everyone seemed to be arriving at once. Santana and Brittany, Mike and Tina, Puck and Quinn, Artie and Kitty, Jake and Marley, Rory and Sugar, Joe and Unique and Ryder and Emily. After everyone greeted each other, the room was pretty quiet.

Today was always a somber, emotional day for the New Directions alumni. This room meant so much to all of them. Numerous kids had passed through it since they'd graduated, but they were all sure no one could have the experience there that they'd had.

"They should be here with us today," Santana finally said.

"They should," Tina agreed.

"Do you guys still think about them?" Artie asked.

"Of course, every day," Sam said.

The group looked over at Kurt and Blaine's children, who were playing the drums. "They're so cute," Ryder said. "And they do remind me of their namesakes."

"Yeah, she does have some things in common with her namesake," Blaine said. "They have two gay dads and they don't know who their biological one is."

"Though she is a lot shyer than Rachel Berry," Kurt said.

As if they knew everyone was talking about them, Fin and Rachael came over. "Daddy, is there any food here?" Fin asked.

Everyone laughed. "Another way he's like his namesake," Kurt said. "We'll get some snacks later, okay?"

Fin pouted. "Okay."

"You two, of all people, deserve to have your kids named after them," Quinn said.

"Every day, we see Finn and Rachel in our Fin and Rachael," Blaine said. That was true. These two kids had the smiles, sweetness and enthusiasm their parents had.

"In honor of those we lost ten years ago, do you think you guys could sing something?" Mr. Schue asked.

_New Directions alumni: Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes_  
_Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear_  
_Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes_  
_How do you measure, measure a year?_

_In daylights, in sunsets_  
_In midnights, in cups of coffee_  
_In inches, in miles_  
_In laughter, in strife_

_In five hundred twenty-five thousand_  
_Six hundred minutes_  
_How do you measure_  
_A year in the life?_  
_How about love?_  
_How about love?_  
_How about love?_  
_Measure in love_  
_Seasons of love_  
_Seasons of love_

_Kurt:_ _Five hundred twenty-five thousand_  
_Six hundred minutes_  
_Five hundred twenty-five thousand_  
_Journeys to plan_  
_Five hundred twenty-five thousand_  
_Six hundred minutes_  
_How do you measure_  
_The life of a woman or a man?_

_Blaine:_ _In truths that she learned_  
_Or in times that he cried_  
_In bridges he burned_  
_Or the way that she died!_

_New Directions alumni: __It's time now_  
_To sing out_  
_Though the story never ends_  
_Let's celebrate_  
_Remember a year in the life of friends_  
_Remember the love (Mercedes: Oh, you've got to, you've got to remember the love)_  
_Remember the love (Mercedes: You know that love is a gift from above)_  
_Remember the love (Mercedes: Share love, give love, spread love)_  
_Measure in love (Mercedes: Measure, measure your life in love)_  
_Seasons of love_  
_Seasons of love_

At the end of the song, Fin and Rachael were clapping for their dads and for their dads' friends. And everyone was sure that Finn Hudson and Rachel Berry had been singing with them, wherever they were. Finchel were a part of all of them, and they always would be.


End file.
